1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a leaf management apparatus such as an automatic teller machine (ATM) located in a bank, a convenience store, and the like, for example.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A leaf transfer mechanism unit incorporated in an ATM is well known as is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 9-147193, for example. The leaf transfer mechanism unit may comprise a leaf reception room defined between a pickup roller and a front or reception urging member. When a customer intends to deposit cash, the leaf reception room is designed to receive bills. The reception urging member is driven to move forward so as to urge the received bills against the pickup roller. Rotation of the pickup roller serves to sequentially transfer the bills, one by one, to a discrimination section.
Behind the reception urging member, a leaf delivery room is defined between a partition member and a rear or retrieval urging member. Bills determined unacceptable at the discrimination section, such as false bills and other types of leaves, are temporarily stored in the leaf delivery room. When all of the bills have been taken out of the leaf reception room, the retrieval urging member is driven to move forward toward the pickup roller. Such advancement of the retrieval urging member causes the leaf delivery room to lead to a leaf delivery opening of the ATM. The customer is allowed to pick up the bills or other types of leaves, which have been determined unacceptable at the discrimination section, out of the leaf delivery opening.
If the customer has left the unacceptable bills and other types of leaves in the leaf delivery room, the left bills and leaves should be retrieved into a retrieval container. The retrieval urging member is driven to move forward so as to urge the left bills and leaves against the pickup roller. When the pickup roller is driven to rotate, the left bills and leaves are sequentially transferred, one by one, to the retrieval container.
During such operation, the aforementioned reception urging member and the partition member in front of the retrieval urging member should be removed from the path of movement for the retrieval urging member advancing toward the pickup roller.
Removal of the partition member may be achieved, as is disclosed in the aforementioned Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 9-147193, by moving the upright partition member in the direction perpendicularly intersecting the path of movement for the retrieval urging member. However, such movement of the partition member inevitably suffers from occupation of a larger space in the ATM. Moreover, the disclosed leaf transfer mechanism unit is designed to drive the partition member and the reception urging member by separate drive sources, so that a drive mechanism inevitably gets complicated.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a leaf transfer mechanism unit capable of operating or acting within a smaller space.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a leaf transfer mechanism unit comprising: a pickup roller; a retrieval urging member designed to move forward toward the pickup roller along a predetermined path leading to a front limit position allowing the retrieval urging member to collide against the pickup roller; and a partition member designed to move forward in front of the retrieval urging member along the predetermined path beyond the front limit position for the retrieval urging member so as to reach a turnout position.
When the retrieval urging member is allowed to move forward, bills received between the pickup roller and the retrieval urging member can be urged against the pickup roller. The rotating pickup roller serves to sequentially transfer the bills, one by one, urged against the pickup roller. During this operation of the pickup roller, the partition member is allowed to move forward to the turnout position beyond the front limit position for the retrieval urging member, so that the retrieval urging member is reliably prevented from interfering or colliding with the partition member during the advancement of the retrieval urging member.
In general, the partition member and the retrieval urging member are kept in an attitude upright to the predetermined path of movement. If the turnout position of the partition member can be defined at the extension of the predetermined path of movement, it is possible to avoid the partition member at the turnout position from largely and remarkably protruding out of the predetermined path of movement. The leaf transfer mechanism unit is thus allowed to operate within a smaller space as compared with a prior art leaf transfer mechanism unit.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a leaf transfer mechanism unit comprising: a pickup roller; a partition member designed to move toward the pickup roller; a leaf reception room defined between the pickup roller and the partition member; a retrieval urging member designed to move forward toward the pickup roller within the limit of a front limit position allowing the retrieval urging member to collide against the pickup roller; and a leaf delivery room defined behind the partition member between the partition member and the retrieval urging member, wherein the partition member is designed to reach a turnout position where the pickup roller is exposed in the leaf delivery room behind the partition member.
With the above arrangement, bills can be received in the leaf reception room defined between the pickup roller and the partition member while bills can also be received in the leaf delivery room defined between the partition member and the retrieval urging member. When all bills are taken out of the leaf reception room, the bills in the leaf delivery room are then subjected to a transferring operation. During the transferring operation, the bills can reliably be urged against the pickup roller exposed behind the partition member which is kept at the turnout position. The rotating pickup roller serves to sequentially transfer the bills, one by one, out of the leaf delivery room.
As described above, the partition member is usually kept in an attitude upright to its path of movement. If the turnout position of the partition member can be defined at the extension of the path of movement, it is possible to avoid the partition member at the turnout position from largely and remarkably protruding out of the path of movement. The leaf transfer mechanism unit is thus allowed to operate within a smaller space as compared with a prior art leaf transfer mechanism unit.
The leaf transfer mechanism unit may further comprise a reception urging member interlocked with or incorporated in the partition member and designed to move forward toward the pickup roller within the limit of a collision position allowing the reception urging member to collide against the pickup roller. This arrangement allows the reception urging member to urge bills, received between the partition member and the pickup roller, against the pickup roller when the reception urging member is allowed to move forward. The rotating pickup roller serves to sequentially transfer the bills, one by one, urged against the pickup roller.
The leaf transfer mechanism unit may further comprise: a guide passage formed in the partition member for guiding movement of the reception urging member; and a driving piece connected to the reception urging member and designed to move along a circular orbit described around a rotation axis in parallel with a rotational axis of the pickup roller. With this arrangement, the movement of the drive piece along the orbit causes not only movement of the reception urging member but also movement of the partition member interlocked with the reception urging member. A drive source may be employed common to the reception urging member and the partition member. A drive mechanism can be simplified as compared with a prior art leaf transfer mechanism unit.
Alternatively, the aforementioned leaf transfer mechanism unit may further comprise: a reception urging member disposed between the pickup roller and the retrieval urging member at a rearmost position remotest from the pickup roller; and a guide passage formed in the partition member for guiding movement of the reception urging member. In this case, the reception urging member is designed to selectively trace a first and a second advancement path. The first advancement path extends toward the pickup roller from the rearmost position so as to reach a collision position allowing the reception urging member to collide against the pickup roller, while the second advancement path extends from the rearmost position so as to make a roundabout of the pickup roller. When the reception urging member traces the first advancement path, the reception urging member is allowed to urge bills, received between the pickup roller and the partition member, against the pickup roller. On the other hand, when the reception urging member traces the second advancement path, the partition member is allowed to reach the turnout position without inducing collision between the reception urging member and the pickup roller during the advancement of the partition member.
The above arrangement may employ a driving piece connected, directly or indirectly, to the reception urging member so as to move along a circular orbit described around a rotation axis in parallel with a rotational axis of the pickup roller. The driving piece serves to drive the reception urging member along the first and second advancement paths with a relatively simpler structure.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a leaf transfer mechanism unit comprising: a pickup roller; a rear urging member designed to move forward toward the pickup roller within the limit of a front limit position allowing the rear urging member to collide against the pickup roller; and a front urging member disposed between the pickup roller and the rear urging member at a rearmost position remotest from the pickup roller, wherein the front urging member selectively traces a first and a second advancement path, the first advancement path extending toward the pickup roller from the rearmost position so as to reach a collision position allowing the front urging member to collide against the pickup roller, the second advancement path extending from the rearmost position so as to make a roundabout of the pickup roller.
With the above arrangement, bills can be received between the pickup roller and the front urging member, at the same time, bills can be received between the front and rear urging members. When the front urging member traces the first advancement path, the front urging member is allowed to urge the bills, received between the pickup roller and the front urging member. The rotating pickup roller serves to sequentially transfer the received bills, one by one. Moreover, when rear urging member moves forward following the advancement of the front urging member along the second advancement path, the rear urging member is allowed to reach the front limit position without inducing the collision between the front urging member and the pickup roller. The rear urging member is allowed to reliably urge the bills, received between the front and rear urging members, against the pickup roller. The received bills can thus sequentially be transferred one by one.
In general, the front and rear urging members are kept in an attitude upright to the path of movement for the rear urging member. If the front urging member is allowed to trace the second advancement path keeping the attitude, it is possible to avoid the front urging member from largely and remarkably protruding out of the path of movement of the rear urging member. The leaf transfer mechanism unit is thus allowed to operate within a smaller space as compared with a prior art leaf transfer mechanism unit.
The above arrangement may employ a driving piece connected, directly or indirectly, to the front urging member so as to move along a circular orbit described around a rotation axis in parallel with a rotational axis of the pickup roller. The driving piece serves to drive the front urging member along the first and second advancement paths with a relatively simpler structure.
The aforementioned leaf transfer mechanism unit may be incorporated in a leaf management apparatus such as an automatic teller machine (ATM), for example. The leaf may include any of a paper sheet such as a money bill and a valuable ticket, a magnetic card, a plastic card such as a credit card, and the like.